how to.....??

[jun_18T]

i need to know how do you AIO Nano guys clean the back chambers of your tank. for weeks now i've been trying to get rid of my N03....i've even put a media rack full of chaeto in the middle chamber besdie my tunze skimmer....but no luck. today i took a look with a flashlight inside the 1st and 3rd chamber and saw there was a lot of crap in there....N03 factory maybe??? ill be doing my weekly water change tomorrow and can you guys give me your procedures in cleaning those back chambers.

thanks!

[10achik]

I assume when you do water changes you use a siphon hose right? Just stick the hose back there and suck it out, that's what I do. I think that stuff is called dentris or something like that. I use a nice long piece of air tubing (not the little stuff and not the water hose type, the one in between) It takes about 5 minutes to suck out 2 gallons.

I turn off the heater and the pump, remove the sponge in the first chamber and put it in the bucket I'm about to put the water in. I remove the carbon bag (and change it about once a month), chaeto submersible LED and phospate filter from the second chamber and put all those in the same bucket (minus the LED, I just hang it off to the side ). Then I start the siphon and start in the first chamber poking around the LR and sucking up all the "stuff" then put my finger over the end of the hose (to keep the siphon from breaking) then I move on to the second and third chamber doing the same thing. When I'm done I've usually removed 2-2.5 gallons and that's about right for my 12 gallon nano.

Then I put the carbon bag and chaeto back in the second chamber and add a new phosphate filter and then I squeeze the old filter out several times in the water I removed to clean it out and then I put it back.

I refill the tank by putting the water back in it with the same hose so it goes back in slowly so it's not shocking the tank if the temp isn't exactly the same, I turn the heater back on and wait until it's full before I plug the pump back up. I do this at a minimum once a week.

I don't claim that this is the best method, I'm a noob, but it's what works for me and my levels have been really stable. After a couple hours I do my tests and they always seem to be in the right areas, so I must be doing something right.